Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on 16 November 1581: a painting of the filicide by Ilya Yefimovich Repin

Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word filicide derives from the Latin words filius meaning "son" or filia meaning daughter, and the suffix -cide meaning to kill, murder, or cause death.

"Filicide" may refer both to the parent who killed his or her child, as well as to the criminal act that the parent committed.

History[edit]

A 1999 United States Department of Justice study concluded that between 1976 and 1997 in the United States, mothers were responsible for a higher share of children killed during infancy, while fathers were more likely to have been responsible for the murders of children aged eight or older.^[1]

Furthermore, 52% of the children killed by their mothers (maternal filicide) were male, while 57% of the children killed by their fathers (paternal filicide) were male. Parents were responsible for 61% of child murders under the age of five.^[2]
Sometimes, there is a combination of murder and suicide in filicide cases. On average, according to FBI statistics, 450 children are murdered by their parents each year in the United States.^[3]

Types of filicide[edit]

Dr. Phillip Resnick, who published research on filicide in 1969, stated that there were five main motives for filicide, including "altruistic," "fatal maltreatment," "unwanted child," and "spousal revenge."^[4]

Altruistic killings occur because the parent believes the world is too cruel for the child or because the child is enduring suffering (whether this is actually occurring or not). In fatal maltreatment killings, the goal is not always to kill the child but death may occur anyway, and Munchausen syndrome by proxy is in that category. Spousal revenge killings are killings of children done to indirectly harm a domestic partner; they do not frequently occur.^[4] Glen Carruthers, author of "Making sense of spousal revenge filicide," argued that those who engage in spousal revenge killings see their own children as objects.^[5]

Children at risk[edit]

In the United States, homicide is in the top five causes of deaths of children, and in the top three causes of death in children aged between 1 and 4 years old.^[6] A direct correlation has been identified between child abuse rates and child homicide rates. Research suggests children who are murdered by their parent(s) were physically abused victims prior to death. This is often seen as an indicator of domestic violence.^[7]

See also[edit]

• 
  Prolicide, the killing of one's offspring


• 
  Feticide, the killing of a fetus


• 
  Neonaticide, the killing of a child during the first 24 hours of life


• 
  Infanticide, the killing of an infant from birth to 12 months


• 
  Child murder, the murder of a child in general


• 
  Filial cruelty, cruelty toward one's own child


• 
  Child cruelty, cruelty toward an unrelated child

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• 
  Douglas, John; Olshaker, Mark (1996). Journey Into Darkness. United Kingdom: Arrow Books. ISBN 978-0-749-32394-3. 
  


• Meyer, Cheryl; Oberman, Michelle; White, Kelly (2001). Mothers who Kill Their Children. New York University Press. ISBN 0-814-75643-3
  


• 
  Rascovsky, Arnaldo (1995). Filicide: The Murder, Humiliation, Mutilation, Denigration, and Abandonment of Children by Parents. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-568-21456-6. 
  

External links[edit]

• 
  Classifications and Descriptions of Parents Who Commit Filicide (PDF)